Comments on: DIAC employee: I can no longer keep silent

By: Niphredil

Niphredil — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Bravo to publicly denouncing the appalling state of senior management in the Federal Govt. Unfortunatley however, I doubt that it is restricted to the ranks of DIC (a more aptly named dept I never did see). i used to work for the old DEST (now part of the mega DEEWR) and found it matched DIC (wher a close friend worked) score for score on ineptitude, blatant cronyism and smothering of talent. In the long year i was there, my dept saw the introduction of 4 new EL1 or 2 positions, despite being completely understaffed in lower level positions. At most times i had 4 direct managers all giving me work, none of whom discussed my workload with eachother. In spite of this it was not overwork that made me leave. i left because despite being assessed as successful for a promotion, i wasn’t given one because I was told i was too young and i hadn’t done my time (I was 25). The public service is doomed to wallow in it’s own filth as long as recuritment excercises are left up to SES and EL.

By: Jack H Smit

Jack H Smit — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

It’s a True and Brave New World, friend George Orwell!

My moles in the Immigration department consistently tell me that 40% of them would LOVE a Royal Commission so the Department can finally Meet Its Maker, but 60% tell them to shut up and “be normal”.

By: Nicholas Johns

Nicholas Johns — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I am a migration agent working in the area of skilled visas. I endorse the suggestion of the writer that cuts to DIAC staff will make a bad situation worse. The truth is DIAC is already a nightmare to deal with. It is impossible to communicate with decision makers, visa processing times are completely irregular, and DIAC officers are continually making poor decisions that are unchallengeable for overseas applicants. To apply for a skilled visa is to take on a hash of private accreditation and state bureaucracies with overlapping and inconsistent rules and poor accountabilities. I can see that DIAC staff are stressed and that cuts will make their lives more difficult. But thinking about the abominable attitude that DIAC has to migration agents, and thinking about the repeated and unnecessary stress DIAC officers have caused me and my clients, I think I support the cuts. Sucko DIAC officers! Go and get real jobs!!

By: dangermouse

dangermouse — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

As one with a view of the trough, I can avow that the ‘Hundreds of people’ quoted by the writer are not public service employees. APS staff are a definite minority in the IT areas, which are largely populated by people in dark suits and big blue ties. It is said that nobody ever lost their job by choosing IBM, but one wonders if that will always be the case because and the ‘Systems for People’ program represents a case study for spending money without having clearly defined objectives.

Palmer and Comrie produced clear objectives - things that needed to be done to fix problems. How many of these things have been done? What is the actual cost of each deliverable?

The real problem is that Liberal’s bloodletting didn’t go deep enough into the ranks of senior management so the people who caused the majority of the problems remained in place. When you add the people who made DEWR IT such a happy place, you shouldn’t expect to be surprised by bad things.

By: JohnH

JohnH — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

The mythology that Immigration has a wonderful “new”culture is exposed at every turn. Shortly we’ll have the NewsSpeak for the opening of the $500m “facility”on Christmas Island. It will invoke a “solution” playing to the paranoia of those who fear our borders are being breached. We see a disturbing pattern if the extraordinary cost of this Supermax edifice with its electronic control from Canberra (with no demonstrated need for its existence) is added to the hundreds of millions spent on more IT people-control systems which don’t work. The hyper-careeer ambition of those running the Department is the real game . Onwards and upwards. Lots of gongs for those who help the aspirational dreaming. Including hand-in-glove work with the AFP, as in the Haneef case, to try and short-circuit Court decisions. The antideluvian Stage 1 at Villawood IDC still provides stark testimony to the ongoing darkness within DIAC.

By: diacinsider

diacinsider — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

This article rings so true. I too have worked at DIC (since when has ‘and’ deserved being capitalised?). Yes DIC sucks, and it is because of the SES - the recent staff survey identified that around 60% of staff found the SES to be incompetent - but the SES didnt like this outcome, so twisted it to mean the Directors below them. The SES are dinosaurs playing political games that have nothing to do with the operation of the Dept. Their contribution (in the majority of cases) is minimal, it seems they are promoted to the SES as there is nowhere else for them to go (and as everyone knows they can’t do too much damage if they’re always at lunch).
And yes - DIC has it’s own terribly bad current affairs show, newspaper and National Propaganda Branch - and it is the laughing stock of the department.